Appeal Session For Former Iranian Jailor Begins In Sweden

Based on the index’s data published on its website, Iran’s passport grants visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 43 destinations in the first quarter of 2023.

It means that Iranians need a visa to access 156 countries globally.

Concerns about people fleeing Iran and possible destabilizing actions in other countries by Islamic Republic agents are prime reasons for widespread travel restrictions.

Visa-free countries include those where entry is possible without a visa, and with a visa on arrival.

The Henley Passport Index is the original, authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations. Updated quarterly, the Henley Passport Index is considered the standard reference tool for global citizens and sovereign states when assessing where a passport ranks on the global mobility spectrum.

Before 1979 revolution which led to the ouster of Mohammad Reza Shah, Iranians could travel without visas throughout Western Europe, except Austria and Switzerland.

Meanwhile, according to the new report by Henley Passport Index, Japan ranks number one in the first quarter of 2023 with having access to 193 countries.

Singapore and South Korea shared second place in the world's most prestigious passport ranking.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Sullivan pointed out that it has been "five terrible years" since Morad Tahbaz was detained in Iran.

“We again call on Iran to release immediately Morad and fellow Americans Emad Shargi and Siamak Namazi. Reuniting these Americans with their families is a top priority of this Administration,” he added.

In a similar tweet, Robert Malley also described the “wrongfully” detainment of Morad Tahbaz for five years “too many”.

“We have no higher priority than making sure that Morad and fellow wrongfully detained U.S. citizens Emad Shargi and Siamak Namazi return home and are reunited with their loved ones,” reads his tweet.

Iran routinely arrests people with Western passports and uses them as bargaining chips.

Tara Tahbaz, the daughter of Iranian-British-American Morad Tahbaz, told CNN on the fifth anniversary of her father's arrest that her family still is calling on the United States and United Kingdom to do whatever they can to bring him home.

Morad Tahbaz, 66, is a British-US-Iranian triple national who was arrested in January 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on “espionage” charges.

Siamak Namazi, is a 50-year-old dual-national businessman, who was arrested and imprisoned in October 2015 on charges of "collaborating with the US government".

Emad Shargi is another Iranian-American businessman who was convicted of espionage without a trial and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2020.

According to Mizan news website, affiliated with the judiciary, Olivier Vandecasteele in addition to his long prison term must get 74 lashes for alleged “spying and cooperation with the United States, money laundering and currency smuggling.”

The Belgian aid worker had earlier denied the charges, but on Tuesday he was handed four jail terms, as well as sentences of 74 lashes and a fine.

Belgium is summoning the Iranian ambassador, Foreign Affairs Minister Hadja Lahbib said Tuesday in a statement.

Brussels announced in July that Vandecasteele, a former employee of the Norwegian Refugee Council, had been arrested in the Islamic Republic.

Based on Iranian law, he would be eligible to be freed after serving 12.5 years.

Vandecasteele has the right to appeal the verdict within 20 days, ISNA news agency reported.

He worked in Iran for humanitarian organizations for more than six years and left the country. Later, he was lured back by “a girlfriend” and was detained in February 2022.

A spokesman for Vandecasteele’s family announced in December that he has been sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Belgium and Vandecasteele’s family believe he is innocent and a victim of hostage taking by the Iranian regime. They say Tehran intends to force Brussels to release Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Belgium in 2021.

Asadi was accused of plotting a bomb attack on a meeting of an Iranian opposition group outside Paris.

The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations on Tuesday also called for the resumption of fair trials for the defendants in the presence of lawyers chosen by the accused.

The statement also pointed out that Mohammad Hosseini and Mohammad Mehdi Karami, who were hanged by the regime on Saturday, were tried without going through legal formalities and the possibility of having a selected lawyer.

“However, the arrogant government thinks by hasty executions, it can cover up its inefficiency, which is the main cause of the recent uprising of those who lost their lives,” reiterated the council.

It also added that cruel verdicts are issued to create terror in the society so that the Islamic Republic can silence the voice of protesters against oppression, discrimination, and injustice.

Iran Human Rights Organization announced on Mondaythat at least 109 Iranian protesters are currently at risk of execution or facing death penalty sentences.

The Oslo-based organization said in its latest report that this figure is a minimum estimate as most families are under pressure to stay quiet, and the real number is believed to be much higher.

It also announced that at least 481 people including 64 children and 35 women, have been killed by security forces since mid-September, following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, which triggered the protests.

"The weaponization of criminal procedures to punish people for exercising their basic rights – such as those participating in or organizing demonstrations - amounts to state sanctioned killing," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement, saying the executions violated international human rights law.

Iran hanged two men on Saturday for allegedly killing a member of the security forces during nationwide protests and more have since been sentenced to death. The U.N. Human Rights office has received information that two further executions are imminent, the statement said.

The UN Human Rights Council voted November 24 to launch an investigation into Tehran's deadly repression against protesters.

Security forces have killed more than 500 people since mid-September when popular protests erupted after a 22-year-old woman died in ‘hijab police’ custody. The government has also arrested around 20,000 people according to estimates by human rights groups.

Iran's judiciary said Monday that a court has sentenced three others to death for “war against God”. The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization announced in its latest report that at least 100 detainees face a death sentence or execution and most families are under pressure to stay quiet, and the real number is believed to be much higher.

Western government have reacted with outrage to the executions and the European Union is considering further sanctions on Islamic Republic’s entities and officials.

With reporting by Reuters